Downtown Kansas City has been undergoing a massive boom in renovations and new construction. Since 2000, the estimated cost of these projects has totaled over $5.5 billion.
Power & Light District The Power & Light District, also known as the Entertainment District, is a nine-block area to the immediate south of the Central Business District. Originally to be named Kansas City Live,
Cordish, Inc. of
Baltimore, Maryland – which developed the area – decided to name the district after the historic art deco Power & Light Building. The present headquarters of the Kansas City Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of
Great Plains Energy, is also on the district's northern side. Instead, a one-block area near the new
H&R Block headquarters tower – devoted to live music venues – was named Kansas City
Live!. The H&R Block building, which opened in mid-2006, has a prominent oval shape, mixed with blue-green reflective glass. This is among newer, glass-walled buildings, also including the
Sprint Center and the
Kansas City Star printing press across
I-670. is the Alamo Drafthouse. Cordish planned four residential towers as part of the project, which include a 25-floor residential tower (One Light), to the immediate north of the H&R Block headquarters on a lot once occupied by the flagship store of the Jones Store Company. Groundbreaking on the complex began in March 2006. As of 2023, One and Two Lights are complete, and Three Light is under construction. The Entertainment District practically shares a border with I-670. Enclosed between the residential towers and H&R Block's new building will be many shops and restaurants new to the Kansas City area. The new district has become a major attraction for residents and visitors, and has had a civic impact on downtown similar to that experienced by other municipalities, such as
Baltimore and
San Antonio.
T-Mobile Center The
T-Mobile Center (formerly Sprint Center), an 18,500-seat arena, was announced shortly after the launch of the Power & Light District. In 2004, a ballot initiative to fund the proposed arena through a tax on car rentals and hotels was effectively passed by area voters. The project raised some controversy as
Enterprise Rent-A-Car, whose owner is known for supporting a possible NBA franchise in the company's headquarters of
St. Louis, lobbied against the tax and tried to sway public opinion against the arena. Some city officials, and citizens against the increased tax, also fought the project. One of the most prominent was Sandra McFadden-Weaver of the
City Council. The arena vote passed decidedly. Construction began on the T-Mobile Center in late 2004. Before this, however, and even before the vote, the city sent out requests to local and national architectural firms – including HOK Sports, Ellerbe Beckett, 360 Architecture, Rafael Architects Inc. and the world-renowned
Frank Gehry – to bid on the project. The first four of the aforementioned firms, however, collaborated to form the "Downtown Arena Design Team," and won the contract over Gehry's bid, with the city citing the companies had completed a variety of sports-related projects and were based locally as the reason for their selection. Since construction began, many local minority leaders have protested the construction company and contractors for not putting enough
minorities in the construction and contracting teams. The contractors, however, assert they have complied with state and federal requirements and continue to meet the requests of local citizens. The T-Mobile Center opened in 2007; as of June 2011, the arena does not have an NBA or
NHL tenant. However, the arena has served as the venue for events such as concerts and since March 2008, the
Big 12 Basketball Tournament.
Kansas City Convention Center The
Kansas City Convention Center consists of several buildings, either connected to or adjacent to each other: Bartle Hall, the Grand Ballroom, the Conference Center, Meeting Rooms, and Barney Allis Plaza. This totals more than . Bartle Hall was opened in 1976, in time for the Republican National Convention. As time passed, the need for more room grew. In 1994, Kansas City-based
HNTB and
BNIM designed an expansion that spanned over I-670 through downtown. After the project's completion, 388,800 square feet were available for the exhibition hall. The expansion also included a grand ballroom, conference center, and meeting rooms. The auditorium connects via parking garage and skywalk to the rest of the convention center.
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts . The
Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is on the northern edge of the
Crossroads Arts District, just south of the
Bartle Hall ballroom. Construction began on October 6, 2006, and the facility opened to the public in September 2011. It was designed by architect Moshe Safdie. The 316,000 square foot performing arts center consists of the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Theater, Helzberg Hall, and the Brandmeyer Great Hall. Its three resident companies are the
Kansas City Symphony,
Kansas City Ballet, and Kansas City Lyric Opera. By May 2015, more than 1.5 million people had attended the center.
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City The
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is a 16-story office tower with a two-story operations center designed by Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. It is at Penn Valley Park on the southern edge of downtown, to the immediate west of
Crown Center on a site formerly occupied by Trinity Lutheran and St. Mary's Hospitals. The bank was based out of a 21-story tower in the Downtown Loop until the Penn Valley Park facility opened in 2008.
IRS offices building is along Main Street next to
Liberty Memorial. The
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has its Kansas City offices just west of Crown Center, which houses up to 6,000 employees. Construction began in 2004 and the building was completed in mid-2006. The IRS was also to occupy the nearby Kansas City Main Post Office building (the Post Office having moved across the street to a building next to
Union Station).
Freight House The historic
Freight House building in the Crossroads Arts District was built in the 1880s; it was renovated in the late 1990s, and it is now home to Grunauer, Lidia's Kansas City, and
Fiorella's Jack Stack Barbecue. The original plan for the redevelopment included a 21-story hotel and garage; however, the hotel portion of the plan did not materialize because of uncertainty about the future redevelopment of downtown. In August 2007, developer Dan Clothier announced he wanted to complete his original plan by adding an 18-story hotel tower atop a three-level garage. The $38 million project calls for the structure to house 200 hotel rooms or a combination of 160 rooms along with some residential units.
Barkley, Inc. atop the former TWA building is a landmark in the Crossroads Art District and the headquarters for Barkley. In November 2006,
Barkley Inc., an advertising and
public relations firm formerly known as Barkley Evergreen & Partners, moved its 350+ employees to the former
TWA world headquarters at the district's southern edge. The building had been empty for two decades and cost over $30 million to renovate. Barkley also reconstructed the famous
Walt Disney-designed three-story rocket ship that stood atop the building during TWA's tenure. The Moonliner signified one-time TWA majority shareholder
Howard Hughes' desire to guide the airline into space travel. Other renovations included a theater, grass-lined rooftop observation deck, open floor plan, and gallery space featuring art from local and national artists. Barkley adopted the rocket ship as its new logo shortly before moving into the renovated TWA space. BNIM Architects moved to the building's third floor in 2014. ==Economy==